The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1887-07-28
Lsneclnl Cnrrespondence..

of us loomed the Great Stirrup Key, for.
midablr danger 10 seamen, shooting ont grim
lodges which rose here and there above the
water like black and sprawliug tentacles Of
some monstrous devil fish; while back within
the wrinkly rocks rose the lighthouse, white
and solemn as majestic monument among
the dark aud dreary headstones of myriad
rotting graves Still beyond and behind, and
maybe a score Of miles away, were seen here
and there upon the flaming morning. horizon
the back silhouettes Of struggling giant
palms AMI topping cocoa trees, suggesting
tired and worn sentres stark still upon some
Nile land plain Tropic lands are kissed by
ceaseless hephyrs. intoxicated by wondrous
odors, ba he'd and flooded in eternal summer:
but now and then the sea or Land, or both,
present aspects which strike the receptive
mind with a sense Of loneliness that is awful.
But there is not more interesting spot on
earth or sea than these very Bahama banks.
To know about them as you may by a leisurely
sail over them Of from four TO six knots an
hour, as was made by our heavily laden but
sturdy old craft, will pay for many n rough
hours experience in advance. Everybody
knows that somewhere off our Florida coast
are the Bahama banks; but whether they are
banks Of sand, or mud, or oyster shells, or are
the magical things they are, few but seafaring
men know or care. Even the latter are by
no means generally informed about them, for
vessels drawing more than fifteen feet of
water cannot cross them. The great steam
ers, barks and ships reach Cuba from Ameri-
can, and often European, ports exclusively
by the Bahama channel and Gulf of Florida
IL, oil "a rp,,oyh Iit NJ
a. int of swift Gulf Stream tides and ever
varying Withstand all other large craft
bound west from Europe hug the northern
shore Of Cuba, leaving the Bahamas away to
the north But schooners, briggs, brigantinea
bark ntines, and all manner Of lesser vessels
make this remarkable passage 'across the
banksn If sure of fourteen or fifteen feet OF
salt water between water line and bottom Of
keel. Woe betide them, though, for any mis-
calculation; for, while the balmy trade winds
ever blow favOrably, and the path from Hole
in the Wall Cubaward is ms plain, as level and
as sure as n paved. endless street TO a horse
man, many and many skipper bold. who
has thought there was "wet' enough on the
banks TO float his vessel, whether the hydrog.
raphers lwho have sounded every ships
length over the submerged continent said so
or not, has Of sudden heard the keel of his
craft grind into the hinty coral and, stanch
as she might be, come to groaning halt, to
oe beaten to pieces by the waves or become
punder for the wreckers The latter lie in
wait for just such reckless sea captains on
every hand behind the keys, and once let
vessels bottom get caught in the coral teeth
of the banks, in almost an instant, in every
direction. the horizon will be dotted with the
smart sails OF rakish craft, all swooping down
like vultures upon their prey.
The Bahama banks proper begin at Matt
nella, opposite the Florida bay of St I.ucie
They extend in a southeasterly direction,
gradually increasing in width to point OPP
pOsite the southeast coast of Florida, from
thence growing narrower and preserving
surface regularity generally conforming with
the chain Of islands themselves, terminating
il Nayidad bank, just above the northeast
coast Of Cuba. Their length is nearly 1000
miles, and their width varies from fifty to 200
miles. To the east they merge into the Ba
hama Islands, but on the west soundings of
800 fathoms have been made from the almost
perpendicular sides Of the marvellous crea-
tons Of marine life; for every atom of this
almost inconceiyable formation is the result
Of insect labor.
To secure some little idea of this deep sea
wonder close your eyes for moment and
imagine a chain Of mountains, thousands Of
feet in height, against one side of which
stands a precipitous mass like fossilized honey
comb, white as snow, extending thousands Of
miles, and rising like a wall to nearly the
elevation Of the highest peaks, and whose
upper surface, for all this distance, is as level
as a floor That is exactly what you could
see here, could the ocean be sucked dry, and
YOU be allowed to stand in the tremendous
channel where the Gulf Stream chafes and
surges eternally
The width of the banks at Hole in the
Wall is no more than seyenty-fve miles; but
the course sailed without exception by vessels
bound for Cuba bears so far to the south
that the distance is a trine over l25 miles
Every inch of this alabaster like surface can
be seen from your vessels deck. Station
sailor amdships and let him "heave the leadn
every five minutes during the whole distance,
and he will call out all day long: 1.-TWO an
half fathom, sir!n 1.-TWO an three quarter
fathom, sirln 1.-TWO an half, sir!"-"an
three-quarter, sirn until the sameness in tone
and depth would be startling
The water itself is remarkable in brlliancy
Of color and translucence. Such shades OF
green were never elsewhere seen. The lace
like fringes of every wave cap or rolling
scroll of water is seen threaded with emerald,
glittering among the snowy white with n
sparkle, CLEAN and simmer that are entranc-
ing. And what rare and wondrous treat it
Is TO stand the day through at the vessel rails
and peer down into this crystal space where
the witching forms of sea life move in their
eternal ways and silences, with such friendly,
such loving nearness Why, it seems that
you can step out upon that binding floor
of white, and wander at will with these sprites
of the sea! You feel that you can reach over
there and drag your hand softly over those
dark masses of sponge which now and then
the vessel presses beneath it, and, with the
scoop net with which you used TO catch min
nows when boy, you could take mackerel
humming bird fish, sun fish, and hundred
other dazzling, unnamed mites which saucily
flash their gorgeous colors in your very eyes
and you thrill to do it. To me this was q
day of days, all too short, but one of thosc
days in mans life which, from its hint Of
the marvellous forms and curiosities IN ma
lures mighty secrets, rds any one but a foo
of the last ve,tige Of infidelity, in the ire
mendous sugge~tiyeness of the omniscience OF
the al! creating God.
More than once the Uranus tubby hull ant
fiat keel scrspai into beds Of sponge and